Memoir of former White House official reveals Bush thought Barney was ‘the son he never had.’

The Washington Post reports that there is “growing nervousness these days” among prominent conservatives about a forthcoming book by Matt Latimer, former speechwriter to President Bush, defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates, and GOP Sens. Jon Kyl (AZ) and Mitch McConell (KY). From a preview of the book’s contents:

[W]e hear what senior aides were saying privately after the Bush administration withdrew the Supreme Court nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers, or we find President Bush confiding wistfully (and sounding serious) that his dog, Barney, was the son he never had. Latimer was on Air Force One with Bush and Karl Rove after Rove announced his resignation.

We hear there’s a story of how Rove spoofed the overly formal national security adviser Stephen Hadley’s penchant for eating off a silver platter at late-night work sessions, while everyone else had cafeteria trays, by serving Hadley himself with a silver tray.

There are said to be interesting observations of some of his bosses on the Hill, including one who had trouble with basic facts and another who had a tendency to hide from his staff by barricading himself in his office.